


sooner or later love will bring you to your knees

by Psuedo_sweetheart



Category: Ebon Light (Visual Novel)
Genre: Blood and Violence, Dom/sub Undertones, F/M, More relationships to be added later - Freeform, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:27:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21539746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psuedo_sweetheart/pseuds/Psuedo_sweetheart
Summary: A collection of oneshots exploring the plot of Ebon Light in various ways I think are interesting (more sex, manipulation, distrust, tragedy, jealousy, etc.).  Will feature various MCs and love interests.
Relationships: Alenca Goffil | Main Character/Duliae Laushust
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23





	sooner or later love will bring you to your knees

**Author's Note:**

> I edited this slightly, the original is still here after the page break.

“Where do you think you’re going, kitten?”

The rough voice came from the shadows, followed by a broad shouldered elf, a smirk on his face.

Auriel didn't recognize him, her entire body shying away from his threatening presence, eyes wide and beginning to shine with tears.

“I got lost. I- I was just going to get some fresh air.”

Her voice trembled, and the elf’s grin grew as he stepped closer. The knife in his grip reflected the torch light, and Auriel’s gaze zeroed in on the sharp, slim, blade. With a gasp she stepped back again, further retreat blocked by the wall behind her.

“So you are the mighty bearer of the Cuthintal. I knew the rumors couldn’t be true.”

He continued forward, placing his hand on the wall over her shoulder and looming over her.

“Please,” she begged, “Please don’t hurt me. I don’t- the Cuthintal does as it pleases, I can’t help you.”

“Help me?” he chuckled.

“Oh kitten, I’m not here for your help. I wanted to reveal your tricks, or if the impossible had indeed happened, to best you.”

He sighed, looking her up and down. When she shifted uncomfortably, he smiled again.

“Don’t worry too much kitten, I’ll leave you alive, dead heroes can be just as troublesome as living ones. I’m just going to strip away the illusion. Once everyone realizes you’re a fake, your little power play will end and Gha’alia will go back to the way it was.”

He moved to grab her arm, but the split second before he touched her, a purple light lashed out from her body and there was the distinct sound of flesh hitting the floor.

Eyes wide with disbelief, the elf slowly lifted his arm in front of his face. Blood was spraying from the stump where his hand had been, staining both him and Auriel with the proof he had desired.

“Cuthintal,” he whispered.

Auriel casually pushed herself off the wall, lips quirked in a smile as she prowled toward him. All traces of fear were gone and in its place was a quiet glee that finally got the elf’s attention, motivating him into taking a quick step back as he tucked his bleeding stump under his other arm in an attempt to stem the blood flow.

“This hasn’t gotten boring yet,” she said, laughter in her voice.

“On your knees, elf.”

He only stared at her, body leaning away, wanting to run, but knowing down to his bones, he wouldn’t get far.

“This doesn’t have to be both your first and last experience with the Cuthintal,” she said, her expression softening.

“You wanted proof of my power and I gave it to you, now it’s your turn to show proof of your surrender to it. Bow.”

He hesitated again, but only briefly, falling to his knees in one painful lurch, his chin to his chest.

Auriel smiled, reaching forward to pet his hair.

“Your obedience shall be rewarded.”

Her hand stilled.

Another flash of purple lit up her face, her smile unwavering.

The elf’s body crashed to the floor.

“With a quick, death.”

Turning away from the body, she brushed her hands over the blood stains that stained her gown, tsking in irritation.

There was the tap of a cane at the end of the hallway and she looked up, smile returning, this time warm and welcoming.

“Riveting as usual, darling.”

Duliae didn’t spare the body a glance, his attention completely arrested by her. He hadn’t slowed his approach and soon had her crowded against the wall, a hand cupping her cheek as he wiped at the blood on her face with the pad of his thumb.

His looming presence affected her authentically, her heart racing in her chest, lips parting as she anticipated his next move, eager to play along. 

Duliae’s clear violet eyes were already darkened with lust, the sight inspiring a mirrored reaction in Auriel. She couldn’t look away as her breath caught in her throat, desire igniting deep in her belly. It’s a helpless response to him and he knew it. 

Normally, the heady thrill of her surrender would cause Duliae to grin, to sigh and smile with almost obscene satisfaction. But this time, he simply crashed his lips against hers, both of them oblivious to the crack of his cane hitting the tiled floor as he dropped it to grasp at her hips, pulling her flush against him.

Auriel moaned into his mouth, pressing insistently against his cock, hard, and hot between them.

She broke away from the kiss, desperate for more.

“Duliae,” she breathed, her entire body trembling, begging for his touch.

Duliae’s only response was to grab the skirt of her dress, hauling it up and out of the way. Roughly he shoved her underwear to the side, delving his fingers between her legs without even a pause to tease her.

She was soaking wet and so, so, warm.

He exhaled a soft groan and pressed closer, pinning her against the wall with his body. Auriel whimpered and ground against his hand as he crooked his fingers inside her.

A moment later he withdrew just far enough to free his cock from his pants.

She was still leaning against the wall for support and lifted one leg to drape it around his waist, opening up a space for him.

“Good girl,” he breathed, voice rough and rasping.

He took a deep breath and sank into her in one swift movement, the slickness of her body easing the way.

Auriel cried out as he gasped, dropping his head and breathing harshly against her neck, trying to regain his composure.

“Duliae,” she begged, giving little abortive thrusts against him, her body demanding friction.

“Please, Duliae, please!”

Her pleading derailed his attempt to focus but also cleared his mind enough to remind him of another use for his mouth besides just gasping in air.

“Don’t worry darling. I’ll give you what you need.”

His voice shook. This isn’t how they usually do things. Usually he was much, much, calmer as he took her apart, only skirting the edges of his control at the end. But this game had him shattered before they had even started, his control snapping along with that fool elf’s neck.

It wasn’t the murder, not the violence that struck him mad with desire. It was simply the display of it, the masterful manipulation culminating in a show of power that thoroughly eviscerated the threat, utterly erasing it from existence.

Duliae paused to adjust his stance, pulling her more firmly into his arms, arching her lower back from off the wall and holding her body in place. As soon as he had her where he wanted her, he drove back into her like an animal, hips snapping, his grunts echoing down the hall along with the sound of slick flesh against flesh.

Auriel howled, just as mindless in her pleasure as she clutched at his back, his arms, finally digging her fingers into his hair and yanking. Duliae only grunted, but he didn’t slow, didn’t admonish her.

“Du-” she gasped, unable to find the breath to finish his name.

There were tears streaming down her face; her body, her very self, overwhelmed with the intensity of her pleasure.

Duliae had no words and no breath for them either, his mind blissfully blank as he did nothing but relentlessly pursue their pleasure. Her body had become so known to him that he didn’t need thoughts, much less words, to drive her over the edge.

She trembled around him close, so close, her body crying out to his, provoking him even farther into their frenzy, chest heaving in the breath he needed, not to live, not to speak, only to fuck her harder.

Screaming, Auriel’s entire body tensed as she came, and he found himself unable to move in her grip. But he no longer needed to move, her body’s quaking wringing his orgasm from him in a blaze of pleasure that swept through him, all the way down to his toes. There was no stopping his release, just as there was no stopping the moan that wrenched free from a place deep in his chest.

Legs weak and trembling, they collapsed as gently as they could manage into a heap on the bloody floor.

After a few minutes of simply breathing, Duliae slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. Reaching to pick up his cane from the floor, he gripped it and shoved the dead elf’s body out of the way so he and Auriel had enough room to prop themselves up against the wall side by side, legs stretched out across the hallway.

Duliae closed his eyes and felt Auriel rest her head against his shoulder. They sat in silence for awhile, neither of them having the energy or will to break it.

Finally Auriel sighed and he felt her tilt her head to look at him.

“Duliae?”

“Yes, my darling.”

“Promise me we’ll do that again someday.”

He chuckled, taking her hand and holding it in his lap, caressing the back of it with his thumb.

“Doing implies making a decision and following through. That was more like-, “ he paused, his brow furrowing briefly.

He raised his hand to brush a stray lock of hair from her face. His expression was soft and open, skin still flushed, hair disheveled in a way Auriel so rarely saw even as his lover. It felt like a precious gift. A memory she’d guard and treasure for the rest of her life.

“There was no decision, dearest. Just instinct. It is-” he paused again, contemplating his words. “A difficult thing for a man like me to pursue, this loss of control. But somehow you make it something I can accept, something I can even find desirable.”

She smiled, somehow both soft and smug and he chuckled again, running the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. She kissed it, chastely though, still sated from their earlier activity.

After awhile they stood to their feet, helping each other put their clothes and hair back to rights. Auriel giggled and teased when Duliae slipped a comb and handkerchief from a hidden pocket.

“I’ll let our friends know about the mess and they’ll have it taken care of,” Duliae said carelessly as they departed arm in arm back to the ballroom, despite still being covered in blood stains.

It was a Gha’alian party after all, and the bearer of the Cuthintal looked good in red.  


*** 

Their footsteps faded away and the hallway was silent as the crypt it now was.

But only for a minute…

A sigh pierced the quiet, followed by a the sound of quick movement and then a harsh exhalation.

Laceaga continued to press his forearm against Haron’s throat. He didn’t bother asking why he was there. He was there for exactly the same reason Laceaga was. Haron was simply dramatic enough to sigh over his unquenched desire, giving Laceaga a target for his own frustration.

Finally, he stepped back and turned his gaze to the body on the floor.

Haron took a deep breath and then let it out in another melodramatic sigh. Laceaga rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know about you Laceaga, but that was the most arousing thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” Haron’s expression twisted for second, “Even with Duliae being there… that’s actually a little disturbing. But I mean- I’ve never seen him lose control like that. I wonder what Ernol would think.”

Ernol materialized from the shadows, Vadeyn’s collar in his grip. He shoved the struggling elf into their impromptu meeting. Haron’s eyes lit up and he laughed at the sight of both of them, particularly Vadeyn who’s face was beet red, expression embarrassed and guilty.

“This- this is wrong,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest, his gaze nervously skittering around the hall, yet resolutely skipping over the dead body.

“You’ve been saying that for ages about many, many, things, Vadeyn. Either back it up with action or shut up,” Ernol said in a clipped voice, brows furrowed into a deep ‘V.’

Vadeyn scowled and shut up.

Ernol stooped down and turned over the dead elf’s body.

“Anyone we know?” Haron asked carelessly.

Ernol shook his head and started going through the man’s pockets, looking for anything to identify him or provide information leading to others that needed the same sort of treatment. As a commander in the Ghalian Forces, rooting out collaborators that threatened Auriel was something he prioritized. Haron kept tabs using the vast Mask network and Laceaga kept his ears open as he lurked in the shadows of Gha’alia.

“So…,” Haron let the word linger in the air, his gaze on his brother, a smile quirking the corner of his mouth.

Ernol avoided his gaze, keeping his attention on his task.

“I would love to hear your thoughts on the rather enticing spectacle we just witnessed.”

When Ernol continued to ignore him, Haron made a frustrated noise and started to pace back and forth.

“This is going to replay over and over in my memory until my mind has me half convinced me it is my own. I’ll think I know what her desire smells like, I’ll believe I’ve wrung those sound from her lips with my own hands. I don’t- “

He exhaled a harsh breath and stopped in the middle of the hallway, staring bleakly at nothing.

“I don’t know how to move past this.”

Ernol finished going through the detritus of the man’s pockets and stood to his feet, facing his brother, expression grim.

“Watching- watching was a mistake,” he said softly, “It was difficult enough just to listen. But… her voice raised in pleasure was like a siren call to me. I could have left or at least looked away, I just-”

His expression twisted into a complicated mixture of regret, jealousy, and desire.

“I didn’t want to.”

Haron nodded miserably.

Laceaga snorted, amused by their shame.

“You two are making a bigger deal out of this than it is. Take and enjoy your stolen tastes of Duliae’s feast, but don’t build them into something they’re not. Her smell and her sounds aren’t what make her… “

He shifted uncomfortably, “Interesting.”

“Interesting?” Vadeyn scoffed, “Don’t think I was the only one who noticed you had to adjust yourself after she destroyed that ship with just one purple thought. Sick bastard,” he added, venom in his voice.

Laceaga grinned, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

“I’m sure it didn’t surprise anyone and I’m also sure I wasn’t the only one who had something to hide after that display.”

Haron laughed, and even Ernol snorted in amusement.

Vadeyn cursed under his breath and stalked off.

Ernol gestured to the body, “Let’s get rid of this.”

“Why?” Haron complained, “No one cares who she kills, only that she can.”

“That’s not always true and you know it,” Ernol responded, grunting as he and Haron lifted the heavy body.

“Besides, if we have the opportunity to control information we take it, as you should know well by now,” he added.

Laceaga scouted ahead through the unfamiliar manor, circling back every now and then to ensure there had been no surprises.

“Duliae, Ernol?” Haron huffed. The body was armored and beginning to feel heavy even with the two of them working together, making conversation difficult.

Ernol rolled his eyes, but seemed to be considering a response, so Haron waited. Impatiently.

“Even as long as I’ve known him and as well as I’ve known him, I’ve only ever seen cracks in Duliae’s composure. That was-,” he shook his head, “That wasn’t a brief glimpse into the heart of him, that wasn’t him choosing to bare himself, that was simply a man who’s walls crumbled into dust in between one moment and the next. It was... breathtaking.”

Haron stared at his brother, eyebrows lifted nearly to his hairline and Enrol scowled, hurrying to clarify himself.

“I mean, it wasn’t enticing in the same way Auriel’s loss of composure was, but it was hard to look away from. Hard to believe, even seeing it with my own eyes and hearing it with my own ears.”

“Exactly!” Haron exclaimed, “Even when she was taken from his arms he didn’t waver. How did he react when he found her?”

Ernol paused, replaying the memory in his head, searching for even the tiniest hint of heart in Duliae’s reaction to the loss and recovery of the woman he loved.

“He was angry, but he didn’t lash out, or shake, or...anything really. His voice was very soft when he spoke to her and he touched her like he was afraid she’d break.”

“All subtle, nothing like we just saw.”

“He thought he was alone, obviously,” Laceaga interrupted them.

“Duliae may be old and wily but he’s no scout or soldier. He thought they were alone in that hallway and then all thought was driven from his mind by lust. Happens to the best of us.”

Haron managed to huff out a laugh, as he paused a moment to adjust his grip on the dead elf’s arms.

Ernol frowned casting his gaze to the ground.

Eventually they made it outside and hauled the body into the back of one of the carriages they had arrived in.

They loitered outside for a few moments in silence, each individually tucking away their ill got, but cherished, new memory before heading back into the manor, back into the gravitational pull that was Auriel.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

“Where do you think you’re going, kitten?”

The rough voice came from the shadows, followed by a broad shouldered elf, a smirk on his face.

Auriel didn't recognize him, her entire body shying away from his threatening presence, eyes wide and beginning to shine with tears.

“I got lost. I- I was just going to get some fresh air.”

Her voice trembled, and the elf’s grin grew as he stepped closer. The knife in his grip reflected the torch light, and Auriel’s gaze zeroed in on the sharp, slim, blade. With a gasp she stepped back again, farther retreat blocked by the wall behind her.

“So you are the mighty bearer of the Cuthintal. I knew the rumors couldn’t be true.”

He continued forward, placing his hand on the wall over her shoulder and looming over her.

“Please,” she begged, “Please don’t hurt me. I don’t- the Cuthintal does as it pleases, I can’t help you.”

“Help me?” he chuckled.

“Oh kitten, I’m not here for your help. I wanted to reveal your tricks, or if the impossible had indeed happened, to best you.”

He sighed, looking her up and down. When she shifted uncomfortably, he smiled again.

“Don’t worry too much kitten, I’ll leave you alive, dead heroes can be just as troublesome as living ones. I’m just going to strip away the illusion. Once everyone realizes you’re a fake your little power play will end and Gha’alia will go back to the way it was.”

He moved to grab her arm, intent on taking her to the place he had prepared for this eventuality.

The split second before he touched her a purple light lashed out at him and there was the distinct sound of flesh hitting the floor.

Eyes wide with disbelief, the elf slowly lifted his arm in front of his face. Blood was spraying from the stump where his hand had been, staining both him and Auriel with the proof he had desired.

“Cuthintal,” he whispered.

Auriel casually pushed herself off the wall. lips quirked in a smile as she prowled toward him. All traces of fear were gone and in its place was a quiet glee that finally got the elf’s attention, making him take a quick step back.

“This hasn’t gotten boring yet,” she said, laughter in her voice.

“On your knees, elf.”

He stared at her, only moving to tuck his bleeding stump under his other arm in an attempt to stem the bleeding.

“This doesn’t have to be both your first and last experience with the Cuthintal,” she said, softly, her expression softening.

“You wanted proof of my power and I gave it to you, now it’s your turn to show proof of your surrender to it. Bow.”

He hesitated again but only briefly, falling to his knees in one painful lurch, his chin to his chest.

Auriel smiled, reaching forward to pet his hair.

“Your obedience shall be rewarded.”

Her hand stilled.

Another flash of purple lit up her face, her smile unwavering.

The elf’s body crashed to the floor.

“With a quick death.”

Turning away from the body, she brushed her hands over the blood stains that stained her gown, tsking in irritation.

There was the tap of a cane at the end of the hallway and she looked up, smile returning this time warm and welcoming.

“Riveting as usual, darling.”

Duliae didn’t spare the body a glance, his attention completely arrested by her. He hadn’t slowed his approach and soon he had her crowded against the wall, a hand cupping her cheek as he wiped at the blood on her face.

His looming presence affected her authentically, this time her heart truly racing in her chest, lips parting as she anticipated his next move, eager to play along. Duliae’s clear violet eyes were already dark with lust, and the breath caught in Auriel’s throat as desire ignited deep in her belly. She felt helpless but to respond to him and he knew it.

Normally the heady thrill of her surrender would cause Duliae to grin, to sigh and smile with almost obscene satisfaction. But this time, he simply crashed his lips against hers, both of them oblivious to the crack of his cane hitting the tiled floor as he dropped it to grasp at her hips, desperately pulling her flush against him.

Auriel moaned into his mouth, pressing insistently against his cock, hard, and hot between them.

She broke away from the kiss, desperate for more.

“Duliae,” she breathed, her entire body trembling, begging for his touch.

Duliae’s only response was to grab the skirt of her dress, hauling it up and out of the way. Roughly he shoved her underwear to the side, delving his fingers between her legs without even a pause to tease her.

She was soaking wet and so, so warm.

He exhaled a soft groan and pressed closer, pinning her against the wall with his body. She whimpered and ground against his hand as he crooked his fingers inside her.

A moment later he withdrew just far enough to free his cock from his pants.

She was still leaning against the wall for support and lifted one leg to drape it around his waist, opening up a space for him.

“Good girl,” he breathed, voice rough and desperate.

He took a deep breath and sank into her in one swift movement, the slickness of her body easing the way.

Auriel cried out as he gasped, dropping his head and breathing harshly against her neck, trying to regain his composure.

“Duliae,” she begged, giving little abortive thrusts against him, her body demanding friction.

“Please, Duliae, please!”

Her pleading derailed his attempt to focus but also cleared his mind enough to remind him of another use for his mouth besides just gasping in air.

“Don’t worry darling. I’ll give you what you need.”

His voice shook. This isn’t how they usually do things. Usually he was much, much calmer as he took her apart, only skirting the edges of his control at the end. But this game had him shattered before they had even started, his control snapping along with that fool elf’s neck.

It wasn’t the murder, not the violence that struck him mad with desire. It was simply the display of it, the masterful manipulation culminating in a show of power that thoroughly eviscerated the threat, utterly erasing it from existence.

Duliae paused to adjust his stance, pulling her more firmly into his arms, arching her lower back from off the wall and holding her body in place. As soon as he had her where he wanted her, he drove back into her like an animal, hips snapping, his grunts echoing down the hall along with the sound of slick flesh against flesh.

Auriel howled, just as mindless in her pleasure as she clutched at his back, his arms, finally digging her fingers into his hair and yanking. Duliae only grunted, but he didn’t slow, didn’t admonish her.

“Du-” she gasped, unable to find the breath to finish his name.

There were tears streaming down her face; her body, her very self, overwhelmed with the intensity of her pleasure.

Duliae had no words and no breath for them either, his mind blissfully blank as he did nothing but relentlessly pursue their pleasure. Her body had become so known to him that he didn’t need thoughts much less words to drive her over the edge.

She trembled around him close, so close, her body crying out to his, provoking him even farther into their frenzy, chest heaving in the breath he needed, not to live, not to speak, only to fuck her harder.

Screaming, Auriel’s entire body tensed as she came, and he found himself unable to move in her grip. But he no longer needed to move, her body’s quaking wringing his orgasm from him in a blaze of pleasure that swept through him, all the way down to his toes. There was no stopping his release, just as there was no stopping the moan that wrenched free from a place deep in his chest.

Legs weak and trembling, they collapsed as gently as they could manage into a heap on the bloody floor.

After a few minutes of simply breathing Duliae slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. Reaching to pick up his cane from the floor he gripped it and shoved the dead elf’s body out of the way so he and Auriel had enough room to prop themselves up against the wall side by side, legs stretched out across the hallway.

Duliae closed his eyes and felt Auriel rest her head against his shoulder. They sat in silence for awhile, neither of them having the energy or will to break it.

Finally Auriel sighed and he felt her tilt her head to look at him.

“Duliae?”

“Yes, my darling.”

“Promise me we’ll do that again someday.”

He chuckled, taking her hand and holding it in his lap, caressing the back of it with his thumb.

“Doing implies making a decision and following through. That was more like-, “ he paused, his brow furrowing briefly.

Opening his eyes he turned toward her, raising his hand to brush a stray lock of hair from her face. His expression was soft and open, skin still flushed, hair disheveled in a way Auriel so rarely saw even as his lover. It felt like a precious gift. A memory she’d guard and treasure for the rest of her life.

“There was no decision, dearest. Just instinct. It is-” he paused again.

“A difficult thing for a man like me to pursue, this loss of control. But somehow you make it something I can accept, something I can even find desirable.”

She smiled, somehow both soft and smug and he chuckled again, running the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. She kissed it, chastely though, still sated from their earlier activity.

After awhile they stood to their feet, helping each other put their clothes and hair back to rights. Auriel giggled and teased when Duliae slipped a comb and handkerchief from a hidden pocket.

“I’ll let our friends know about the mess and they’ll have it taken care of,” Duliae said carelessly as they departed arm in arm back to the ballroom, despite still being covered in blood stains.

It was a Gha’alian party after all, and the bearer of the Cuthintal looked good in red.

***

Their footsteps faded away and the hallway was silent as the crypt it now was.

But only for a minute…

A sigh pierced the quiet, followed by a the sound of quick movement and then a harsh exhalation.

Laceaga continued to press his forearm against Haron’s throat. He didn’t bother asking why he was there. He was there for exactly the same reason Laceaga was. Haron was simply dramatic enough to sigh over his unquenched desire, giving Laceaga a target for his own frustration.

Finally he stepped back and turned his gaze to the body on the floor.

Haron took a deep breath and then let it out in another melodramatic sigh. Laceaga rolled his eyes.

“I don’t know about you Laceaga, but that was the most arousing thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Haron’s expression twisted for second, “Even with Duliae being there… that’s actually a little disturbing.”

“But I mean- I’ve never seen him lose control like that. I wonder what Ernol would think.”

Ernol materialized from the shadows, Vadeyn’s collar in his grip. He shoved the struggling elf into their impromptu meeting.

Haron’s eyes lit up and he laughed at the sight of both of them, particularly Vadeyn who’s face was beet red, expression embarrassed and guilty.

“This- this is wrong,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest, his gaze nervously skittering around the hall, yet resolutely skipping over the dead body.

“You’ve been saying that for ages about many, many things, Vadeyn. Either back it up with action or shut up,” Ernol said in a clipped voice, obviously annoyed.

Vadeyn scowled and shut up.

Ernol stooped down and turned over the dead elf’s body.

“Anyone we know?” Haron asked carelessly.

Ernol shook his head and started going through the man’s pockets, looking for anything to identify him or provide information leading to others that needed the same sort of treatment.

As a commander in the Ghalian Forces, rooting out collaborators that threatened Auriel was something he prioritized. Haron kept tabs using the vast Mask network and Laceaga kept his ears open as he lurked in the shadows of Ghalia.

“So…,” Haron let the word linger in the air, his gaze on his brother, a smile quirking the corner of his mouth.

Ernol avoided his gaze, keeping his attention on his task.

“I would love to hear your thoughts on the rather enticing spectacle we just witnessed.”

When Ernol continued to ignore him he made a frustrated noise and started to pace back and forth.

“This is going to replay over and over in my memory until my mind has me half convinced me it is my own. I’ll think I know what her desire smells like, I’ll believe I’ve wrung those sound from her lips with my own hands. I don’t- “

He exhaled a harsh breath and stopped in the middle of the hallway, staring bleakly at nothing.

“I don’t know how to move past this.”

Ernol finished going through the detritus of the man’s pockets and stood to his feet, facing his brother, expression grim.

“Watching- watching was a mistake,” he said softly, “It was difficult enough just to listen. But… her voice raised in pleasure was like a siren call to me. I could have left or at least looked away, I just-”

His expression twisted into a complicated mixture of regret, jealousy, and desire.

“I didn’t want to.”

Haron nodded miserably.

Laceaga snorted, amused by their shame.

“You two are making a bigger deal out of this than it is. Take and enjoy your stolen tastes of Duliae’s feast, but don’t build them into something they’re not. Her smell and her sounds aren’t what make her… “

He shifted uncomfortably, “Interesting.”

“Interesting?” Vadeyn scoffed.

“Don’t think I was the only one who noticed you had to adjust yourself after she destroyed that ship with just one purple thought.”

“Sick bastard,” he added, venom in his voice.

Laceaga grinned, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

“I’m sure it didn’t surprise anyone and I’m also sure I wasn’t the only one who had something to hide after that display.”

Haron laughed, and even Ernol snorted in amusement.

Vadeyn cursed under his breath and stalked off.

Ernol gestured to the body, “Let’s get rid of this.”

“Why?” Haron complained, “No one cares who she kills, only that she can.”

“That’s not always true and you know it,” Ernol responded, grunting as he and Haron lifted the heavy body.

“Besides, if we have the opportunity to control information we take it, as you should know well by now,” he added.

Laceaga scouted ahead through the unfamiliar manor, circling back every now and then to ensure there had been no surprises.

“Duliae, Ernol?” Haron huffed. The body was armored and beginning to feel heavy even with the two of them working together, making conversation difficult.

Ernol rolled his eyes, but seemed to be considering a response, so Haron waited. Impatiently.

“Even as long as I’ve known him and as well as I’ve known him, I’ve only ever seen cracks in Duliae’s composure. That was-,”

He shook his head, “That wasn’t a brief glimpse into the heart of him, that wasn’t him choosing to bare himself, that was simply a man who’s walls crumbled into dust in between one moment and the next. It was... breathtaking.”

Haron stared at his brother, his surprise plastered across his face and Enrol scowled, hurrying to clarify himself.

“I mean, it wasn’t enticing in the same way Auriel’s loss of composure was, but it was hard to look away from. Hard to believe even seeing it with my own eyes and hearing it with my own ears.”

“Exactly!” Haron exclaimed, “Even when she was taken from his arms he didn’t waver. How did he react when he found her?”

Ernol paused, replaying the memory in his head, searching for even the tiniest hint of heart in Duliae’s reaction to the loss and recovery of the woman he loved.

“He was angry, but he didn’t lash out, or shake, or...anything really. His voice was very soft when he spoke to her and he touched her like he was afraid she’d break.”

“All subtle, nothing like we just saw.”

“He thought he was alone, bwenna,” Laceaga interrupted them.

“Duliae may be old and wily but he’s no scout or soldier. He thought they were alone in that hallway and then all thought was driven from his mind by lust. Happens to the best of us.”

Haron managed to huff out a laugh, as he paused a moment to adjust his grip on the dead elf’s arms.

Ernol frowned casting his gaze to the ground.

Eventually they made it outside and hauled the body into the back of one of the carriages they had arrived in.

They loitered outside for a few moments in silence, each individually tucking away their ill got, but cherished, new memory before heading back into the manor, back into the gravitational pull that was Auriel.


End file.
